The advantages of a charging station for condominiums
Enhancing the value of your property
If you're a co-owner, installing charging stations for electric vehicles can be an excellent way of enhancing the value of your property. Demand for electric vehicle charging stations is constantly on the rise, and many owners are looking for buildings equipped to make their daily lives easier. Today, it is estimated that the average availability rate of a public charging point is 84%. on average.
By installing charging stations in your condominium, you can attract potential tenants or owners who are looking for a convenient, environmentally-friendly place to live. Installing charging stations for electric vehicles can be a financially profitable investment for condominium owners in the long term.
Facilitating the transition to electric mobility
Facilitating the transition to electric mobility is a major challenge for the future of our planet. Condominium owners have an important role to play in this transition by installing charging stations for electric vehicles. This would enable residents of your condominium to easily recharge their electric cars without having to search for a public charging station.
By offering this convenience, you also encourage your residents to adopt more environmentally-friendly mobility and reduce their carbon footprint. Finally, facilitating the transition to electric mobility can have a positive impact on air quality and the health of your condominium's residents. In short, installing charging stations for electric vehicles is an essential measure to facilitate the transition to greener, more sustainable mobility.
Improving tenants' quality of life
As a condominium owner, improving tenants' quality of life is a priority. Installing condominium charging stations for electric vehicles can contribute to this improvement by providing a convenient convenience for residents with electric vehicles. By facilitating the adoption of electric mobility, your tenants will be more inclined to stay in your building for longer.
In short, the installation of electric vehicle charging stations can help improve the quality of life of condominium owners by offering practical convenience and encouraging a more sustainable lifestyle.
Installing a charging station in a condominium: what are the steps involved?
When installing charging stations in condominiums, it's important to comply with standards to ensure that they are safe and functional for future users.
What are the steps involved in installing a charging station in a condominium?
To begin with :
- It is important to determine your recharging needs. Before installing a charging station, you need to determine :
- terminal type
- terminal power
- its use
- Next, you need to choose a suitable location. It should be easily accessible to all, and close to your building's vehicle parking area. Make sure you leave enough room to move around the bollard.
- Check the electrical capacity of your installation: you need to make sure that your electrical installation can handle the load of the charging station. If necessary, you may need to make some electrical modifications.
- Select a charging station supplier: choose a reliable, reputable charging station supplier to install your charging station.
- Install the charging station: once you've selected a charging station supplier, you can proceed to install the charging station.
- Have the charging station tested: after installation, the charging station must be tested to ensure that it works properly and meets all safety standards.
Flush-mounted or free-standing bollards: which to choose?
The decision between a flush-mounted or free-standing charging station will depend on where you want to install your charging solutions.
A free-standing bollard may be more practical if you want a mobile installation that's easy to move around. For its installation, it will be necessary to create trenches to insert the cables supplying power to the bollards. It's ideal for outdoor parking lots, as it has its own base. However, its price is higher than a flush-mounted bollard, as you have to pay for the pedestal and the trenching. You should expect to pay between €600 and €2,500 for this bollard, depending on the model.
A flush-mounted charging station is more aesthetically pleasing and discreet, because it's a minimalist wall-mounted box. As a wall-mounted charging solution, you'll need your spaces to be close to a wall. It's ideal for pedestrian areas or restricted spaces such as underground parking lots, as it takes up very little space, allowing you to move around freely. For a wall-mounted bollard, you need to budget between €500 and €1,200, depending on the model and the number of kilowatts chosen.
Financial assistance available for the installation of a charging station in a condominium
Avere-France has set up a program called Advenir to accelerate the deployment of charging stations in France, by providing aid for their installation. Condominiums wishing to install charging stations are eligible for this subsidy if the request comes from the condominium manager and concerns the installation of collective infrastructures.
In this case, Advenir covers 50% of the total cost (excluding VAT) (supply of materials and work), with a ceiling of €8,000 for 100 parking spaces. Beyond that, there's an additional charge of €75 per space.
Your roadworks (outdoor parking) are also subsidized up to 50%, up to a limit of €3,000 per condominium.
Summary table of Advenir's support for collective infrastructures :
| Percentage of aid | Limit (excl. tax) | |
|---|---|---|
|
Collective infrastructure (excluding outdoor parking) |
50 % |
8,000 (over 100 spaces + €75 per additional space) |
|
Collective infrastructure (outdoor parking) |
50 % |
3 000 € |
Solutions for efficient management of charging stations in condominiums
Managing your charging stations is just as important as installing them. In fact, it's important to check that they're working properly and that each user can use them easily.
Access to the charging station:
There are several ways to provide access to charging stations for condominium users, including :
- Magnetic card: each user has a recharging card, which he or she holds up to the terminal to start recharging.
- Telephone control: users can activate the terminal via their cell phone.
- Connected bollards: the bollard is connected to an online management system for access and user management.
Share the cost of using the charging station
There are several ways of sharing the cost of using the charging station in a condominium:
- Usage-based: each user pays according to his or her own use of the terminal.
- Based on living area: each co-owner pays a share proportional to the living area of his or her unit.
- Depending on the number of users: each tenant pays an equal share for the use of the terminal.
Purchase a kiosk connected to an RFID badge
A connected charging station in a condominium is very important for several reasons:
- Energy management: A connected charging station makes it possible to monitor and manage the energy consumption of each individual charging station. This can help avoid electrical overloads and ensure equitable energy distribution between charging stations.
- Cost management: the charging station can track energy consumption and maintenance for each individual charging station, enabling more effective cost management. This minimizes operating costs and maximizes the profitability of the charging station installation.
- Billing: Your connected charging solution can also make it easier to bill residents for charging station use. It can track each resident's energy consumption and bill accordingly, avoiding billing errors or disputes.
The challenges of maintaining charging stations in condominiums
Ensure proper operation of the charging station
The charging station must be regularly maintained to ensure optimum operation. If it isn't working properly, electric vehicle owners won't be able to recharge their vehicles, and this could lead to delays or complications on their journeys.
Reducing costs
Regular maintenance of the charging station can reduce the costs associated with repairs and replacements. What's more, a charging station in good working order is more efficient and consumes less electricity.
Comply with safety standards
Charging stations must comply with current safety standards. Regular maintenance ensures that the charging station complies with safety standards.
Conclusion
Charging stations in condominiums will therefore bring you considerable added value, not only by improving property value, but also by improving the lives of your tenants. However, you need to take care to ensure that your charging solutions are installed and managed properly, so that they can be used over the long term.
You can also take advantage of the Advenir subsidy, which provides up to 50% of the cost of installation.
